Skip to main content

'Exported Nigeria yams weren't rejected' - Ministerial Aide


Yams harvested for market

By YUSUF GOJE

The Technical Assistant to the Honorable Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development on Quality Control and Standardization, Mrs Heather R. Akanni, has adjudged Nigerian yams to be of high quality, debunking claims by some section of the media that the first exported products of yam were rejected due to poor quality.
She stated that: “Nigerian yams were not rejected because of quality, but due to the long period it took to arrive its destination, some of the products got spoiled along the way. Unfortunately, some of the media outfits only chose to harp on a baseless standpoint that they were rejected".
She disclosed that, "the law banning yam export is being reviewed and presently at the second reading stage in the National Assembly”. In ensuring that our yams continue to meet the international standards, she said, clustering of farmers to ensure that only approved certified yam seeds were made available to them is necessary.The ministerial aide reiterated that having quality seeds was not enough because extension services were needed as well to ensure right application by farmers.
Mrs Akanni who was speaking on Tuesday during her interface with an advocacy group at the meeting to finalize advocacy briefs on Agriculture Seeds, held at Partnership to Engage, Reform and Learn (PERL) Office, Maitama, Abuja, expressed satisfaction with organizers of the event.
Highpoint of the meeting facilitated by PERL was the merger of two advocacy groups working on farmers’ limited participation in agriculture policy making processes and strengthening extension services around seeds.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Malaria: In solidarity with Under-5s

A cross section of children Ward DANGWA DANJUMA R enewed campaign to eradicate malaria as part of activities to commemorate the World Malaria Day 2022, led by Centre for Media Advocacy for Mother and Child (CAMAC)  has kicked off in Kaduna. The campaign which is part of the NGOs "Malaria Eradication Campaign 2022" with the theme: "Eliminating Malaria through Community Engagement", this year, is themed: “Harness Innovation to Reduce the Malaria Disease Burden and Save Lives” The World Malaria Day is celebrated every 25th of April to bring greater awareness to the global fight and recognise the existence of malaria across the globe. This year's project is being supported by Newsweb Express an online news platform in collaboration with Civil Society for Malaria Elimination (CS4ME) a global network uniting civil society organizations and communities to achieve malaria elimination. People are more prone to malaria in the rainy weather and it is timely when communitie...

Kaduna IDPs cry out over Deplorable Conditions

By DANGWA DANJUMA L ack of basic education, sanitation, healthcare facilities and access to portable water supply have hit Gwagwada, a host community camping over 300 households displaced from fifteen villages in Chikun Local Council of the state. Speaking at the flag off of relief materials distribution for the internally displaced persons (IDPs), the Village Head of Gadani, Mr Bitrus Tsauri disclosed: “Since they arrived, the wells which have been the sure source of water for several households in the community have dried up; the solar powered borehole is only providing drips of water necessitating most residents to seek drinking water from streams. Our two public primary schools and healthcare facility are currently inadequate and may be unsafe, especially with the coronavirus pandemic that Kaduna state is still counting cases”. He confirmed that those who can farm, have been provided land to start over again; there is still the worry however, for those who are unable to farm due t...

'Development Partners, a blessing to my Community' - District Head

His Highness, Mr Haruna Kuye (3rd left, middle roll) flanked by the visitors and village heads T he District Head of Gidan Zaki, His Highness, Mr Haruna Kuye  has given kudos to members of the civil society, for positively touching the lives of his people, through frequent capacity building  in governance processes, thereby empowering his community in the area of tracking and monitoring government projects. "Work began sometime ago in my community and no one had information on the details of the project. I mobilized and led a small team to engage and inquire from the client and contractor the details of the project. Now we know the kilometers of the road to be constructed. I am grateful to participate in Open Government Partnership with regard to Local Government Fiscal Transparency, Accountability and Sustainability engagements; without which we would not have had any idea by now on the ongoing governance reforms in Kaduna State.", he disclosed. He st...

TRIBUTE: Dr Bala Takaya 1930 - 2018

  Bala John Takaya (2nd Left) at a function recently By Nasiru Jagaba Again, with rude shock, death has come upon us in the early hours of Sunday, 27th May, 2018. It is with deepest regret that the Middle Belt Youth Wing of Middle Belt Forum mourns the death of our President, Father, Mentor, and a tireless advocate of equity, fairness and justice, Dr Bala John Takaya, the President of Middle Belt Forum has silently closed the door of life and departed from us, never to return.  68 years old Takaya, an unparalleled University Senior Lecturer, a distinct politician who served as the  Secretary to State Government of the old Gongola State, a member of the 1987 Political Bureau. On the fight to restore democratic system of governance, he worked hand in hand with Chief Solomon Lar. Also, in 1999 he was the governorship candidate of the All People’s Party, APP later ANPP.  He is much esteemed in the community of Middle Belt and generally recognized as on...

'Terrorists are all over, not only Southern Kaduna'

-Governor Nasir el-Rufai el-Rufai addressing Journalists in Hausa after a security meeting on Southern Kaduna By DANGWA DANJUMA G overnor Ahmed Nasir el-Rufai has admitted that terrorists are everywhere in Kaduna state, not only in the troubled Southern Kaduna, disclosing that miscreants have taken to the social media space to promote what he called disturbing and further aggravating the worsening situation situation with religious and ethnic colouration. Speaking to newsmen in Hausa, after a meeting with security officials, el-Rufai said that miscreants from Abuja, Lagos, Port Harcourt and outside Nigeria are trying to insinuate that the Southern Kaduna killings is ethnic and religious even going as far as asking people to take the law into their hands. While maintaining that these people would be brought to book, he tasked traditional leaders, religious leaders and political office holders in the state to speak the truth about the happenings as failing to do so wo...